Assistant district attorney Pamela Dale agreed to settle with a guilty plea to one charge of first degree assault with a deadly weapon. Proving attempted murder, she says, would have been difficult to do.

“I would’ve had to prove that he intended to kill her," Dale said after the hearing. "He did stab her a great number of times, he stabbed her 28 times. What was unusual is that it wasn’t the sort of stabbing through the body that I would’ve been able to argue to the jury was a substantial step towards trying to kill her.”

Dale described the wounds as closer to a half inch deep punctures. State troopers who investigated found Chythlook had used two knives in the brutal, unprovoked attack.

He was sentenced to 10 years of jail time with seven suspended, meaning he has three to serve. Dale says that sentence fits the guidelines adopted under the state’s recent criminal justice reform, known as Senate Bill 91.

"When this case came in before SB 91 he would’ve been presumptive seven to 11 years. After the change in SB 91 he was presumptive five to nine years. And so the 10 with the seven [suspended] is within the sentencing range," Dale said.

Chytlook will be on probation for three years after his release, and will be required to attend counseling for alcoholism and domestic violence. He has been in custody since his February arrest.